Consumer Man over at MSNBC.com has a really good article this morning about some pending federal legislation that wold help rein in the credit card industry, which needs some reining in for its own good. I mean, when you have a judgment against a guy, it's probably not a good idea to send him a pre-approval for a car loan up to $30K, and yet that happened to me just this past week.

Anyway, it's Rep. Carolyn Maloney who has put this bill forward and it has some good stuff in it, mainly dealing with quick rate increases and unfair fees. Obviously, the banking industry doesn't like the bill, but I found it funny the reason why.

The banking industry says it is committed to consumer protection and responsible lending, yet it opposes many of the provisions in the bill. In a statement, Edward Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association, says he has “serious concerns” that certain aspects of this legislation “would have unintended consequences such as more expensive and less accessible credit.”

Mr. Yingling, Ed, if I may, I'm no economist, but from what I hear, a large part of the massive shitstorm we're being splattered with economically speaking is because of cheap and easily-accessible credit. And it's not like this is a secret--it's been on the news a lot lately. We had a housing bubble because of cheap and easily-accessible credit, and credit card companies are seeing record defaults because of it, and you're worried that certain aspects of this legislation might cause an end to it. You're not exactly in the strongest position here, Ed.

Anyway, go read the piece. It's a long way from becoming law, and there will be bipartisan opposition to it, because financial institutions love to play both sides of the fence, so Rep. Maloney can use all the help she can get pushing this through, and even then it might take a Democratic President to make it actually happen. Still, no reason to wait. Let's get after it.

Here's the Random Ten--turn on the Party Shuffle and post the next ten songs, no matter how embarrassing. We've seen you doing the Funky Cold Medina in your underwear anyway--it was that time you tried to prove that tequila makes you drunker than vodka. Here we go.

1. What'd I Say--Ray Charles2. King of Comedy--R.E.M.3. Three Little Words--Milt Jackson and John Coltrane4. Wrapped Around Your Finger--The Police5. Heroin--The Velvet Underground6. The Thrill is Gone--B. B. King7. Paperback Writer--The Beatles8. Took Out the Trash and Never Came Back--Mojo Nixon9. Helplessly Hoping--Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young10. Junco Partner--Professor Longhair

I can't quite tell if this list is classic, or simply pedestrian. Help me out in the comments.